Meaty Mushrooms

When I was pregnant, I found myself going off meaty dishes. Something to do with the morning sickness, but meat never made me feel good. Only recently, I've found myself watching programs on animal farming and its made me think about the amount of meat we eat in a western society. So, I've decided to try and do my bit by cutting down the amount of meat my family eats. We are really enjoying it so far and have been eating vegetarian dishes about 3-4 times a week.

Here is one I tried last week that came out beautifully. It was really satisfying and even my husband is who an avid meat eater, said it was a great lasagna!

Mushroom lasagne

Ingredients (serves 8)

* 10g dried porcini mushrooms (see note)
* 2 tbs olive oil
* 2 onions, thinly sliced
* 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 500g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 thyme sprigs
* 500ml good-quality tomato passata
* 200g buffalo mozzarella (see note) (or bocconcini), sliced, drained on paper towel
* 375g pkt fresh lasagne sheets
* 1/2 cup (40g) grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
*
Bechamel sauce
* 1L (4 cups) milk
* 1 onion, halved
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 thyme sprig
* 50g unsalted butter
* 1/3 cup (50g) plain flour
* Pinch of nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 30cm baking dish.

2. Soak the porcini in 1/2 cup (125ml) boiling water for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring, for 5-6 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, Swiss browns, bay leaf and thyme, then cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until mushrooms start to wilt and caramelise. Add porcini and soaking liquid, then cook for a further 2 minutes until most liquid has evaporated. Stir in passata and 1 cup (250ml) water and season well. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, for bechamel, place milk, halved onion, bay leaf and thyme in a pan over medium-high heat and bring to just below boiling point. Remove from heat and stand for 15 minutes to allow flavours to infuse. Melt butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add flour and stir for 2 minutes until smooth and combined. Strain milk through a sieve into a jug, then gradually whisk into butter mixture until smooth. Add nutmeg, season, then stir over low heat for 3-4 minutes until thickened.

5. To assemble lasagne, spoon half the mushroom sauce in the baking dish, spread with one-third of bechamel, then top with half the mozzarella. Cover with pasta sheets, then repeat with remaining mushroom mixture, half the remaining bechamel and the remaining mozzarella and pasta. Finish with a final layer of bechamel, scatter with parmesan, then cover with baking paper and foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15 minutes more until golden and cooked. Rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve with extra parmesan.